The Latest Prompt-blem & the Dirt on Biochar
Aug 28, 2025
Kaley Ubellacker
Happy Wednesday!
Happy Wednesday! If you’re new here, welcome to Necessary Nuggets, your one-stop pre-seed shop. We deliver updates from Necessary Ventures and helpful tidbits on our little corner of the world. Every edition is also on our blog.
What's happening at Necessary Ventures:
Portfolio company Copper raised $28 million led by Prelude Ventures to continue electrifying appliances. Copper’s raise was featured in the WSJ and Axios.
Good Reads 📖
For the rushed reader …
Anthropic rolled out a limited beta of “Claude for Chrome,” an AI agent that can navigate the web on your behalf, but it also exposed a major security hole.
Terraton is tackling the challenge of scaling biochar, a carbon-sequestering fertilizer made by burning agricultural waste without oxygen, by applying a franchise model.
Roadrunner Venture Studios is leading a $25 million initiative in New Mexico to build a quantum innovation and commercialization hub.
For the less rushed reader …
Tooth, nail, and Claude
Maybe not every internet wave is worth surfing. Anthropic rolled out a limited beta of “Claude for Chrome,” an AI agent that can navigate the web on your behalf, but it also exposed a major security hole. In testing, Anthropic found that prompt injection attacks, where hidden instructions in websites or emails trick the AI into harmful actions (like deleting inboxes), succeeded nearly a quarter of the time before safeguards. Although Anthropic cut that rate in half with protections, the risk highlights a fundamental challenge for all computer-controlling AI: giving agents the power to automate work opens the door to new exploits. Anthropic’s cautious rollout contrasts with more aggressive launches from OpenAI and Microsoft. There’s an interesting prompt-blem here, and safety may be the make-or-break factor for the next wave of agentic AI.
A soil-id investment
Biochar might sound like a Pokémon to you, but it’s actually a key ingredient for reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Terraton is tackling the challenge of scaling biochar, a carbon-sequestering fertilizer made by burning agricultural waste without oxygen, by applying a franchise model. The early-stage company, which just raised an $11.5 million seed round, helps partners build and operate biochar facilities, then clones the process for additional sites. They integrate a SaaS platform to run plants, verify carbon credits, and connect with corporate buyers. The approach addresses a key bottleneck in the space: biochar production is supply-constrained and location-dependent, since facilities must be near agricultural waste sources. You could say that Terraton is taking the burning question seriously.
Qubit the bullet
Quantum computing is changing states. Roadrunner Venture Studios is leading a $25 million initiative in New Mexico to build a quantum innovation and commercialization hub. Their mission focuses on supporting early-stage startups and bridging the gap between research and real-world applications. Quantum computing remains a polarizing field: some see it as the next frontier in computing, while others argue practical, large-scale applications are still many years away. This initiative is notable because it goes beyond funding research, providing infrastructure like multi-node quantum networks, testbeds, and a Founder-in-Residence program to help founders build and scale companies. By connecting national labs, universities, startups, and venture capital, the program creates a structured pathway for turning quantum experiments into investable, potentially market-ready technologies. I might not understand quantum computing, but this seems like a leap to me.
Market Stirrings 🚩
Here's what the week looked like in pre-seed:
$4.1M
17
Data aggregated from proprietary research and Crunchbase; valuation estimate based on 10-20% ownership stake.
A HEALTHY PERIOD
Looking for a pre-seed cheatsheet? Carta just released fundraising benchmarks across industries, offering a rare peek into where early dollars are going. Healthtech topped the charts in deal count from Q3 2024 to Q2 2025, but those rounds were comparatively lean with one of the lowest median raises. Notably, “AI” wasn’t broken out as its own category.
Fire Up the Pre-Seeds🔥
Highlights from this week’s pre-seed raises:
AI
Swept AI - Eyes on the AI.
Swept AI raised $1.4 million led by M25. Swept AI is building an interrogation and supervision platform that stress-tests, certifies, and continuously monitors autonomous AI agents.
AI
Pitz - The ultimate tune-up.
Pitz raised $2 million at an $8 million pre-money valuation. Pitz is creating an all-in-one management platform for auto repair shops, streamlining everything from service orders and inventory to billing and analytics.
AI
EffiGov - Call me, maybe.
EffiGov raised $500k from Y Combinator. EffiGov is developing a 24/7 voice AI call center for local governments that automates constituent calls from pothole reports to records requests.
JOBORTUNITIES
| Senior Embedded Systems Engineer | - Copper:
Rethinking the induction stove and making kitchen electrification more accessible than ever. Picture a fossil-free future, without sacrificing aesthetics.
| Production Engineer | - Infinite Machine:
Envisioning the future of transportation beyond cars and into the realm of personal electric vehicles. Its first product, P1, is the ultimate tool for city navigation.
Outro🚪
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Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
